Paula Deen and her husband, Michael Groover, are pictured at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in April. Deen reportedly admitted using racial epithets during a deposition in a lawsuit against her. (Dennis Pillion/dpillion@al.com)

Celebrity chef Paula Deen, in a deposition for a lawsuit in which she is accused of making racist jokes around employees, has admitted to using the “n-word" on occasion.

The deposition, which was reportedly taken on May 17, is part of a March
2012 lawsuit filed by former Paula Deen Enterprises worker Lisa
Jackson, who is suing Deen and her brother, Earl “Bubba” Hiers. Jackson
claims that while working for Hiers, she witnessed numerous instances
of sexual and racial workplace discrimination.

News media from the Washington Post to the National Enquirer were reporting on the admission Wednesday. The Huffington Post obtained a court document that contains a transcript of Deen’s testimony, which was also allegedly recorded on video. No video of her deposition has been released.

In the transcript, Deen is asked if she has ever used the “n-word,” to which she replies, “Yes, of course.”

When asked in what context, Deen says, “Well, it was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head.”

Deen says she did not use the epithet to the gunman’s face, but later, in recounting the story to her husband. When asked if she has used it since, she says she has, but that it’s been “a very long time.”

She says that the context for later use of the word was “maybe in repeating something that was said to me,” such as “a conversation between blacks.”

“But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on,” Deen says in the transcript. “Things have changed since the ‘60s in the south. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do.”

Deen is also questioned about allegations in the lawsuit that she wanted black men to play the role of slaves at a wedding. She explained that she got the idea from a restaurant that she had eaten in with her husband, where the wait staff consisted of middle-aged black men wearing white jackets and black bowties.

“I mean, it was really impressive,” Deen says in the transcript. “And I remember saying I would love to have servers like that, I said,
but I would be afraid that someone would misinterpret (it).”

Asked if she used the "n-word" with the waiters, Deen said no.

"No, because that’s not what these men were. They were professional black men doing a fabulous job," Deen says.

According to the deposition, Deen’s brother had previously admitted in his own deposition to using racially insensitive language and viewing pornography at his business.

In her testimony, Deen defended her brother.

“My brother is not a bad person. Do humans behave inappropriately? At times, yes. I don’t know one person that has not. My brother is a good man," Deen says.

“Have we told jokes? Have we said things that we should not have said, that – yes, we all have. We all have done that, every one of us.”